Kenneth Denman

Professor, School of Earth and Ocean Sciences
University of Victoria
PO Box 3065 STN CSC
Victoria BC Canada, V8W 3V6

Tu & Th
Ocean, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Building, Room SCI A213, University of Victoria
Telephone (250) 363-8230
Fax (250) 363-8247

Chief Scientist, VENUS Coastal Network

M-W-F
VENUS Project, University of Victoria
PO Box 1700 STN CSC
Victoria BC Canada, V8W 2Y2
Telephone (250) 472-5220

http://venus.uvic.ca

Scientific Motivation

How will marine planktonic ecosystems adapt to a future ocean that will be warmer, more stratified, more acidic, and less oxygenated?

Interests

I study the interactions between marine planktonic ecosystems, physical oceanographic processes and a changing climate. My aims are twofold: first, to understand and forecast how marine ecosystems will respond to a changing climate, and second, to understand the role marine ecosystems play in the oceanic cycling of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. I develop coupled physical-biogeochemical models of the ocean, including the planktonic ecosystem, the carbon cycle and other biogeochemical cycles. As Chief Scientist, I am coordinating the scientific development for the second (water column) phase of VENUS (Victoria Experimental Network Under the Sea), and developing collaborations with the broader scientific user community. I was Coordinating Lead Author in the 1995 IPCC Climate Change report (SAR) of a chapter titled "Marine biotic responses to environmental change and feedbacks to climate", and in the 2007 4th IPCC Assessment (AR4) of a chapter titled "Couplings between changes in the climate system and biogeochemistry". I have served recently on the Joint Steering Committee for the World Climate Research Programme and in the international Scientific Steering Committee for SOLAS (the Surface Ocean - Lower Atmosphere Study). I am located in the VENUS offices in the TEF Building (M-W-F) and in the Canadian Centre for Climate Modelling and Analysis in the Wright Centre (Tu-Th), both at the University of Victoria.

Potential Graduate Students, Post Docs

If you are interested in modelling and analysis of marine planktonic ecosystems, ocean biogeochemical cycles (carbon, nitrogen, silica, sulphur, iron, etc), or analysis and modelling of observations from the VENUS Coastal Network, please contact me by email or phone.

Other Information

B.Sc. (Hon.) Physics (Calgary), Ph.D. Ocean Physics (UBC),

Research Scientist, Fisheries and Oceans Canada: Bedford Institute of Oceanography (1972-1977), Institute of Ocean Sciences (1977-2010).
Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

Wooster Award for significant scientific contributions to North Pacific marine science, North Pacific Marine Sciences Organization (PICES), 2007.

T.R. Parsons Award for Excellence in Ocean Research, Fisheries and Oceans Canada & Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society, 2006.

President's Prize, Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society, 1988.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore for "their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change".

[Full CV, PDF file]

Committees and Appointments

Member, British Columbia Premier's Climate Action Team, 2007-2008.
Coordinating Lead Author in the IPCC Climate Change 2007 AR4 report of chapter titled "Couplings between changes in the climate system and biogeochemistry".
Convening Lead Author in the IPCC Climate Change 1995 SAR report of chapter titled "Marine biotic responses to environmental change and feedbacks to climate".
International and Canadian SOLAS Scientific Steering Committees (2001-2006)
Joint Scientific Committee for the World Climate Research Programme (2001-2006)

Invited Talks Since 2001

Invited talk, K. Denman, 'Climate change: the collision of science, politics, and ethics', Business Futures of the Americas Conference, American Association of Chambers of Commerce of Latin America, Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago, June, 2008.
Invited lectures, K. Denman, 1. 'Feedbacks between ocean ecosystems, ocean biogeochemistry and climate', 2. 'Formulations of marine ecosystem models that respond to climate', and 3. 'Simulation of climate change with a global climate carbon-cycle model', Alpine Summer School on Interaction and Coevolution of Climate and Biosphere, Val d'Aosta, Italy, June. 2008.
Invited talk, K. Denman, 'Climate change: DFO's role', DFO Deputy Minister's Science Management Board, Ottawa, April, 2008.
Invited talk, K. Denman, 'Climate change: the collision of science + policy + politics + ethics', Withinsight Students Annual Workshop "Leaders of the Wired World", Ottawa, March, 2008.
Invited lecture, K. Denman, 'Climate change and marine ecosystems', Class in Resource Management, Malaspina University College, Nanaimo, January, 2008.
Invited talk, K. Denman, 'The Canadian Global Carbon Cycle Model: First results from the CCCMA coupled carbon cycle climate model 'CanESM', Atmospheric Physics Group, University of Toronto, December, 2007.
Invited Keynote Lecture, K. Denman, 'The North Pacific, human activity, and climate change', North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES) 16th Annual Meeting, Victoria, October, 2007.
Invited talk, K.Denman, 'A short story from climate change', Common Energy Network 'Going Beyond Climate-Neutral Conference', University of Victoria, October, 2007.
Invited talk, K. Denman, 'Climate change and marine ecosystems: feedbacks and impacts', University of Washington Program on Climate Change Annual Summer Institute, Friday Harbor Laboratories WA, September 2007.
Invited talk, K. Denman, 'How is our climate going to change – from the global scale to our own back yard garden?', Victoria Rhododendron Society, September 2007.
Invited talk, M. Foreman and K. Denman, 'The influence of climate on physical and biological processes: Issues relevant to the US GLOBEC Pan Regional Synthesis', Second Annual U.S. GLOBEC Pan-Regional Synthesis Workshop, Seattle, September 2007.
Invited talk, K. Denman, 'Feedbacks between the global carbon cycle, the ocean, and climate: Key issues arising from the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report (AR4)', Second International Conference on Earth System Modelling, Hamburg, August 2007.
Invited keynote lecture, K. Denman, 'The Fourth IPCC Assessment Report on Climate Change (AR4): A view from the inside', DFO Regional Science Symposium, Institute of Ocean Sciences, Sidney, May, 2007.
Invited talk, K. Denman, 'The Fourth IPCC Assessment Report on Climate Change (AR4): Key new findings and key science issues', CMOS Ottawa Chapter, Ottawa, April, 2007.
Invited talk, K. Denman, 'The Fourth IPCC Assessment Report on Climate Change (AR4): A view from the inside', DFO ADM-Science Lecture, Ottawa, April, 2007.
Invited talk, K. Denman, 'The Fourth IPCC Assessment Report on Climate Change: A view from the inside', SEOS Fireside Chat, University of Victoria, February, 2007.
Invited talk, K. Denman, 'The Fourth IPCC Assessment Report on Climate Change: A view from the inside', Friday Morning Ocean Sciences Talk, Institute of Ocean Sciences, Sidney, February, 2007.
Invited lecture, K. Denman, 'Climate Change: How is it affecting the ocean?', Class in Resource Management, Malaspina University College, Nanaimo, February, 2007.
Invited comments, K. Denman, 'Climate Change: How is it affecting ocean biogeochemistry?', Panel Discussion, University of Victoria – Royal Society of Canada Forum, "Are We Killing the World's Oceans?", February, 2007.
Invited talk, K. Denman and T.M. Powell, 'US GLOBEC pan-regional synthesis: an outsider's view', US GLOBEC Pan-Synthesis Workshop, Boulder, CO, November, 2006.
Invited talk, K. Denman, A. Peña, and B. Frost, 'Ecosystem modelling at Ocean Station P: What have we learned about the subarctic NE Pacific?', PICES/DFO Fifty Years of Line P Symposium, Victoria, July, 2006.
Invited talk, K. Denman, N. Steiner, N. McFarlane, C. Voelker, and A Peña, 'Connecting SOLAS to climate change: Extrapolating to larger spatial and longer time scales', CMOS Annual Congress, Toronto, May, 2006.
Invited talk, K. Denman, G. Flato, N. Roulet, 'Yes, the ocean has an ecosystem too', Fluxnet Canada Research Network Annual Meeting, Victoria, February 2006.
Invited talk, K. Denman, G. Flato, and N. Roulet, 'The role of the carbon cycle in regulating how the climate responds to emissions from human activities', Science for Solutions Parallel Session at United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change CoP-11, First Meeting of the Parties who ratified the Kyoto Agreement, Montreal, December 2005.
Invited talk, 'The impact of climate change on the oceans', Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Halifax, June 2005.
Invited talk, K. Denman, G. Flato, and N. Roulet: 'The Canadian Global Coupled Carbon Climate Model - CGC3M' , Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society Annual Congress, Vancouver, Canada, June, 2005.
Invited plenary talk: 'The impact of climate change on the oceans', in 'Changing Currents – Charting a course of action for the future of the Oceans', Morris Wosk Centre for Dialogue, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, February, 2005.
Invited seminar: 'Fertilizing the oceans with iron – can it reverse the buildup of CO2 in the atmosphere?', Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, UBC, Vancouver, January, 2005.
Invited Plenary talk: 'Modelling the planktonic community response to iron fertilization', International SOLAS Science Conference, Halifax, Canada, October, 2004.
Invited seminar: 'Fertilizing the ocean – can it solve the greenhouse gas problem?', Centre for Earth and Ocean Research, U. Victoria, November, 2004.
Invited talk, K. Denman and A. Peña: 'Modelling iron limitation in the N. Pacific', PICES-IFEP Workshop on 'In situ iron enrichment experiments in the eastern and western subarctic Pacific', Victoria, Canada. February 2004.
Invited Plenary talk: 'Modelling marine ecosystems: Why do we need models and where are we going?', American Geophysical Union, Ocean Sciences Meeting, Portland USA, January, 2004.
Invited talk: 'A 3-d model of the ocean carbon cycle: sensitivities to topographic mixing and the biological pump', SCOR/Japanese Oceanographic Society Meeting, Sapporo, September, 2002.
Invited President's Plenary talk: 'Ocean processes and the global carbon cycle', Canadian Geophysical Union Annual Conference, Banff AB, May, 2002.
Invited talk: 'The stability of marine ecosystems in a changing climate'. DFO Pacific Science Symposium, Nanaimo BC, May, 2002.
Invited talk: 'Modelling the planktonic ecosystem: How much complexity is too much?', PICES X Special Session S2 on Plankton size classes, functional groups and ecosystem dynamics: Causes and consequences, Victoria, October, 2001.
Invited colloquium speaker: 'Marine planktonic ecosystems and climate change: Can we see the future?', McGill University, September, 2001.
Invited talk: 'Simulating the response to the 1976 climate shift in the North Pacific Ocean with a coupled ocgm/biogeochemical model', Canadian Applied and Industrial Mathematics Society, Victoria, June, 2001.
Invited talks: 'Biological oceanographic futures.com', and 'Models of the response of planktonic ecosystems to climate change', Scripps Institution of Oceanography, San Diego, May, 2001.
Invited talks: 'The response of two coupled 1-d mixed layer / planktonic ecosystem models to climate change', and 'Investigation of the 1976 climate shift in the N. Pacific with a coupled ecosystem / isopycnic model'. Workshop on Biotic Influences on Climate Change, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, April, 2001.

Recent Publications

Updated 26 April 2011